Article handling device



May 8. 6 s. L. CLEAVELANb ETAL 2,744,372

ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1955 7 SheetsShee l INVENTORSsumo" L. CLEAVELANi GILBERT A. LARSON RALPH A. ENGLERT ATTORNEY y 8.1956 B. CLEAVELAND ETAL $744,372

ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2, 1955 INVENTORSBURTON L. CLEAVELAND 4 GILBERT A- LARSON RALPH A. NGLERT ATTORNE y 8,1956 B. CLEAVELAND ETAL 2,744,372

ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 2, 1955 INVENTORSBURTON L. CLEAVELAND GILBERT A. LARSON gym A. ENGLERT ATTORNE May 8,1956 B. L. CLEAVELAND ET AL ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE 7 Sheets-Sheet 4Filed Aug. 2, 1955 BURTON L. CLEAVELAND GILBERT A. LARSON RALPH A.ENGLERT BY ATTORNE May 8, 1956 B. L. CLEAVELAND ETAL 2,744,372

ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORSBURTON L. CLEAVELANU GILBERT A, LARSON RALPH A. ENGLERT ATTQRNEY M y 8,1956 B. L. CLEAVELAND ETAL 2,744,372

ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTORSBURTON L. CLEAVELAND GILBERT A. LARS ALPH A. ENGL MM/W ATTORNEY y 1956B. CLEAVELAND ET-AL 2,744,372

ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Aug. 2, 1955 INVENTORSBURTON L. CLEAVELAND GILBERT A. LARSON RALPH A. ENGLERT BY W X ATTOR NEYUnited States Patent ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE Burton L. Cleaveland, FernCreek, Ky., and Ralph A.

Englert, Montoursville, and Gilbert A. Larson, Em-

porium, Pa., assignors to Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., acorporation'of Massachusetts Continuation of application Serial No.129,414, November 25, 1949. This application August 2, 1955, Serial Thepresent invention relates to article handling devices. and moreparticularly .to amachine for receiving small, fragile work pieces froma. source of such articles, and placing them in a regular array in atray for storage or as a source of supply of said pieces for furtheroperations to be performed on them.

An object-of the present invention is to facilitate the handling offragile work pieces.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a machinefor receiving fragile articles such as radio tube grids from a windingmachine for said grids and for placing said grids in a regular array ina storage tray.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a machinefor receiving grids from a grid Winding machine and placing them inregular array in a storage tray, and further for stacking said storagetrays in uniform stacks. r

The foregoing objects, and others which may appear from the followingdetailed description, are attained in accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention by providing a track system adapted to move a seriesof trays one at a time in regular succession from one vertical stack oftrays and deliver them to another vertical stack of trays. Each tray ispreferably'provided with a number' of rows of pockets into which gridswound by a grid winding machine with which the device is associated, areto be placed. As each tray passesunder an intermediate station, betweenthe two-stacksof trays, grids received from the winding machine andpassing along a chute are transferred individually to pockets in thetray. The grids are carried along the delivery chute by a blast ofcompressed air until they strike against a stop in the chute. Thismachine is provided with a suction head member which picks up each gridasit strikes the stop and transfers it to one of the pockets of the traybeneath the head member, One grid is deposited at'atime, and this occursin timed relation to the discharge of grids from the winding machine.Either a single grid or a plurality up to 20 may be deposited in eachpocket of the tray.

As each pocket ina tray is filled, the suction head and the stop advanceso that a likelnumber of grids is de posited into the next pocket of.the same row. When the entire row has been filled the'traverse of thestop is reversed and the tray is shifted so that the grids are depositedin pockets of the next row. This operation continues until the tray hasbeen filled with a predetermined number of grids ineach pocket. The nextshift of the trays places the first row in the next tray in position toreceive grids, clears a space in the track for a new tray to drop fromthe delivery stack and places a filled tray in the receiving stack.

The present invention will be more fully understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description which is accompanied by a drawing inwhich of the present invention associated with a grid winding machineonlypart of which is indicated.

; Figure 2 illustrates in plan view the embodiment of Figurelwhile I 3Figure3- is an elevational view partly in section taken ICC along line3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a view taken along the line of 2 showing details of the trayreleasing mechanism, while Figure 5 is an elevation view taken inthedirectionof arrows 5-5 of Figure 2 andpartly-in section showindetailsof'the filled tray stacking mechanism.

Figure 6 is a detail taken from Figure 5 with the escapement mechanismin another operating position.

Figure 7 is a view taken along line 7.7 of FigureIZ showingthe operationof the grid transferring head while Figure 8 is a fragmentary plan viewof the'escapement and operating mechanism for the grid transfer head.

Figure 9 is an end elevation of the mechanism .of Figure 8 partly insection.

Figure. 10 is a view ofthe portion shown in Figure 9 shown from theopposite direction. Y r 1 Figure 11 is an enlarged view inthedirectionof arrows 1111 of Figure 2 showing the indexing'chain drivemechanism for moving the-trays from one stack to the other while Figure12 is a partial section taken alongline 12 -12 of Figure 11 and Figure13 is a hydraulic circuit diagram illustrating the connections whichoperate theivarious hydraulic motors of the present embodiment of theinvention.

Reference will now be had-to Figure l which illustrates in a perspectiveView, with certain portions removed for clarity, an embodiment of thepresent invention and associated therewith a fragmentary showingof agrid winding machine of the type with which the present arrangement isadapted to operate.

For the purposes of the present disclosure it is believed sufficient tosay that the grid winding machine-GM winds Application No. 771,995 filedSeptember 3, l94 7,by

Figure 1 illustrates in perspective view an embodiment Stanley J.Gartner and assigned to the assignee of the present application.Reference may behad to said application for a more complete disclosureof the. operatingprinciples but it is believed that suificient detail isgiven here for an understanding of somuch of the grid winding machine asis necessary for understanding the present invention, k u

In previous practice it has been customary in operating such gridwinding machines to provide a position-sat the delivery end of thegridwinding machine foran operator with a pair of tweezers to pick upthe grids one at a time from a delivery tray and place them in transferor storage trays. However, in the present arrangement a stack of gridstorage trays 19 is providedat 20. Trays 19 are shallow rectangularmetal boxes having a number of rows of individual pockets on theirinterior. The trays are provided with a reduced lower margin or aretapered so that they may be stacked 'one above'the other in a stablecolumn. Trays 19 are held in place in stack 20 by a detent mechanism tobe later described and lowered one at a time as the occasionrequires,-on.to a pair of rails 22, 23. The trays 19 areintermittently'movedin a stepwise manner along the rails under a loadingstation 24, and after being filled are eventually moved to a receivingrack 26 where the filled trays are stacked one beneath the other. Atintervals as the occasion may require the filled stacks are removed fromstack 26 and either immediately forwarded to further manufacturingoperations or temporarily placed in storage until the grids are needed.As each filled tray 19 is completely aligned with the bottom of stack26, a pickup mechanism lifts the stack of trays upwardly to provide roomfor the entry of the following tray beneath stack 26.

At the loading station the individual grids 1% after being severed bythe cutting mechanism 15 drop into the chute 30. They are propelledalong chute 39 by a blast of air from air head 31 until they strike themovable stop 35. Head 38 operating in synchronisrn with the cuttingmechanism 15 picks up each grid as it arrives at stop 35 and transfersit into the pocket of the tray 19 which is at its discharge position.After each pocket has received a predetermined number of grids, be it 1or 20, an indexing mechanism 36, which will be described in detaillater, shifts the stop 35 so as to be in alignment with the next pocketin each row of the tray. The transfer head 38 moves with stop 35 so asalways to remain in the same relative position with respect to the stop.

After one row in a tray is completely filled the indexing mechanism 36reverses in its motion so as to travel the other direction along thenext row of pockets in tray 19 and at the same time the intermittentpropelling mechanism for the trays 19 is actuated so as to place a newrow of pockets in position to receive grids discharged from head 38. Theintermittent motion of trays 19 along track 22 is accomplished by meansof pins 40 on a chain 41 indicated schematically by a dotted line inFigure l by mechanism to be described later with reference to Figures11, 12 and 13. Each pin 40 engages a tray 19 as it is lowered from stack20 to a position in line with rails 22, and is disengaged therefrom whenthe filled tray is lifted into the receiving stack 26.

The mechanism for transferring separate grids 19 from the delivery chute30 to the individual pockets in trays 19 will now be described withparticular reference to- Figures 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The transferringmechanism includes a suction pickup head 45, Figure 7, carried by aparallel arm linkage 47, 48 on a longitudinally shiftable carriagearrangement 50. Transfer head or element 45 includes a narrow nozzle 46coupled through an air passage 49 to a hose (not shown). The carriagealso carries stop 35 along the length of chute 30. The transfer head isarranged to be operated from a position, as shown in solid lines inFigure 7, in chute 30 with nozzle 46 immediately in front of stop 35 toa position indicated in dotted lines at A, where the head is immediatelyover one of the pockets in tray 19. Suetion is applied to passage 49through the air hose so that the grid is picked up and held againstnozzle 46 when the pickup head is over chute 30. When the pickup headreaches position A, the suction is arranged to be shut off, so that thegrid drops into the pocket of tray 19. The motion of pickup head 45 isprovided by link 47 being keyed to a rotary shaft 52. The shaft 52 isprovided with a keyway 53 (Fig. 8) along nearly its entire length, sothat it may freely slide through, but still be rotated by hydraulicoscillatory motor 55.

Keyed to rotate with shaft 52, near hydraulic motor 55, but arranged topermit relative sliding motion with respect to the shaft is a crank 56(Figs. 8, 9). Crank 56 is coupled to a ratchet and pawl mechanism 57, 58by link 59. The oscillatory motion of crank 56 due to the motion ofmotor 55 causes pawl 58 to successively engage the teeth of ratchetwheel 57, thus rotating shaft 60. Shaft 60 carries a pin wheel 62carrying a number of pins 64 extending from one face thereof. As wheel62 rotates, the pins 64 in succession pass through cam slot 65 inescapement verge 66. The passage of pin 64 through the slot momentarilyraises verge 66 and drops it again. The pallet pin 67 is thusmomentarily freed from one of the slots 68 in escapement slide 69.

(larriage 59 is arranged to be reciprocatcd back and forth along thelength of chute 30 by means of a hydraulic rotary motor 70 coupled bygear 71 to a rack 72 on the bottom of the carriage 50. The upper side ofcarriage 50 carries the straight line escapement slide 69. When themachine is in operation the hydraulic motor 70 is continuously runningin either one direction or the other and therefore applies a constanttorque to gear wheel 71 through a friction clutch 74 shown in dottedlines in Figure 9. The lifting of pallet pin 67 from one of the slots 68permits the motor 70 to move carriage 50 freely until the pallet pindrops into the next slot 68. The action causes the motion of the pickuphead 45 from a position to drop a grid 10 into a pocket in one row ofpockets in tray 19 into a position to drop the grid into the next pocketof the same row. Figure 10 shows more clearly the operation of theescapement pin 64. In this figure the pin is just on the point ofpassing out of slot 65 so that the pallet pin 67 is lifted out of slot68 to permit the straight line escapement slide to operate.

The foregoing explanation has been predicated on the assumption thatonly one grid is to be placed in each pocket in tray 19. However, if forexample, four grids are to he placed in any one pocket only one pin 64need be placed on pinwheel 62 so that the escapement mechanism istripped only for every fourth grid transferred. The ratchet and pawlmechanism may be modified in order to permit the placing of any numberup to 20 grids in any one pocket of tray 19.

The escapement slide 69 also carries an elongated longitudinal slot 80.A trip pin 81 carried by a reversing slide 82 slides in slot 80. Whenthe carriage 50 reaches each extreme of its motion over tray 19 one ofthe ends of slot engages the pin 81 and shifts the reversing slide 82.The reversing slide 82 has turned down ends 84 (Fig. 3), which engagelevers 85 to actuate a reversing valve at 86 (Figures 3 and 13) wherebythe direction of rotation of motor 70 is reversed. Thus the direction oftravel of grid pickup mechanism 38 is reversed at the end of each row ofpockets in tray 19.

The operation of the hydraulic reversing valve 86 also applies pressureto one end or the other of a reciprocatory hydraulic motor 90, Figures11, 12 and 13, to move plunger 92 from one end to the other. Plunger 92is connected to a horizontal slide 93 mounted over motor 90. Theoperation of slide 93 to the right, for example, as indicated by arrowA, Fig. 12, causes pin 94 mounted thereon to drag on link 95, rotatingpawl carrier 96 counterclockwise through the angle indicated as x inFigure 12. The rotation of the pawl carrier 96 drags pawl 97 around withits carrying ratchet wheel 98 and its associated sprocket wheel 99 withit through the same angle. At the end of the travel of slide 93 to theright, pins 94 and 104 are both at the extreme right end of slots inlinks and 105. At the next rcversal of hydraulic valve 86, plunger 92and slide 93 are operated to the left. During the first half. of thetravel pin 94 tends to leave the right hand end of the slot in link 95but is prevented from doing so by the tension of spring 100 on link 105.This causes pawl carrier 96 to rotate in a clockwise direction untilpawl 97 can drop into the next notch in ratchet wheel 98. As the slidepasses the midpoint in its travels pin 104 engages the left hand end ofthe slot in link 105 ans! again starts a counterclockwise rotation ofpawl carrier 96 thus again indexing the sprocket wheel through angle x.During the last movement the pin 94- and the link 95 had moved inopposite directions so that, at the end of the second indexing stroke,the pin 94 is at the left hand end of the slot in link 95. As the slide93 is again reversed, the left hand end of the slot in link 105 will bepressed against the pin 104 by the spring in Fig. 12, repeats the cyclealready described. The 7 diameter of sprocket wheel 99 is such that itmoves chain 41 and one of the pinscarried by chain 41 a distance equalto the distance between the centers of two successive rows of pockets inone of the trays 19 when Wheel 99 f is moved through angle x. Thus eachreversal of the direction of travel of carriage 50 advances the trays 19which'are riding along. rails 22, 23 so that the transfer headStldischarges the grids into the next successive row of pockets.

It will be noted that one of the teeth on ratchet wheel 93 covers agreater are than the others. This is so that when one tray is completelyfilled the next movement of sprocket 99 will move chain 41 far enough sothat the first row of pockets in the next successive tray falls in theproper position for receiving grids deposited therein by transfer head38. Rotation of sprocket 99 leased for movement along tracks 22, 23.Carriage 120 also carries a numberof spring biased hooks 132 which inthe uppermost position grasp the top edge of tray 19 and upon thelowering of carriage 12 0 positively carry the lowermost tray 19 alongwith the carriage so that if the lowermost tray should stick on to-thebottom of the next tray 19 they will be positively separated.

The receiving stack 26 includes a vertically reciprocable carriage 220similar to that just described above with regard to the empty traystack. It likewise has side members 222 and 223 which in theirlowermostposition are in alignment with tracks 22 and 23. This carriageis vertically reciprocated by a hydraulic reciprocatory motor 116.Upward movement of carriage 220 in, response to the energization ofhydraulic motor 116 lifts the entire stack of trays so that springbiased fingers 230 engage the lip around the upper edge of the lowermosttray of the stack. Then when the carriage 220 returns to its loweredposition the weight of the stack of trays is car ried by the springbiased fingers.

In order to keep the stack of filled trays in proper alignment, verticalguides 226 are provided for the stack so that the likelihood of a stackof filled trays being spilled also causes rotation of a cam wheel 110(Figures 2, l2

and 13). Cam wheel 110 is arranged to operate valve 112 to apply fluidpressure to motors 114 and 116 (Figure 13) for operating the mechanismfor releasing a new tray from stack to the rails 22, 23 and, inconnection with stack 26, for picking up a loaded tray from the railsand inserting it at the bottom of the stack, thus clearing a spacebeneath stack 26 for the entry of the next succeeding tray. Themechanism by means, of which one of the trays 19 will be released fromstack 20 will now be more fully described by reference to Figures 1, 2,5, and 6.

From Figure 2 it will be noted that rails 22 and 23 do not pass underthe entire width of stack 20 but that a separate vertically reciprocablecarriage 120 is provided thereunder having legs 122 and 123 of shapesimilar to the rails 22fand 23 and in its lowered position in alignmentwith these rails. Carriage 120 is arranged to be reciprocated betweenits lowered and raised positions by the operation of reciprocatoryhydraulic motor 114 as indicated in Figure 5. As carriage 120 is liftedby motor 114, an elongated escapement pawl 124, passing along the entirewidth of stack 20, and pivoted to the base of the machine, is swung outof engagement with the lowermost of the trays 19 in stack 20, andpivoted to the base ofthe machine, is swung out of engagement with thelowermost of the trays 19 in stack 20 by the toggle action of lever 125.One end of toggle 125 is carried by escapement pawl 124 and the other bythe vertically reis decreased. When the stack of filled trays reachesthe top ,of vertical guide members 226 the machine operator may removethem all as a unit for transferral to their desired location.

. The hydraulic circuit diagram of Figure 13 shows an oil sump orreservoir 300, and a hydraulicpump 301 supplying pressure through aseries of pipes 302, 303 and 304 to hydraulic valves 86, 310 and 112.Spent hydrau- V draulic pressure to pipes 321 and 322 whereby theoscillatory hydraulic motoris made to oscillate shaft 52 through angle Awhereby the pickup head is operated. The one of pipes 321, 322 which isnot, atany particular instant, connected to the hydraulic pressure line303 is connected to the return line 316 whereby the spent fluid isreturned to the hydraulic sump. Similarly the hydraulic switch 86alternately connects the hydraulic pressure line 302 to either of pipes323 and 324 whereby hydraulic motor is caused to rotate in one directionor the other to drive carriage 50 along the length of chute 30 and alsoto operate hydraulic motor 90 for moving sprocket wheel 99 whereby thechain 41 is caused to advance the trays H along track 22, 23.

ciprocable carriage 120. The lift of the carriage releases the righthand edge of tray 19 (Fig. 5). The other side of tray 19 is held by anescapement pawl 126. It is caused to release the edge of the trayupondownward motion of carriage 1 20 by spring biased finger 128catching in a notch 129 carried by an adjustable latching plate 130 onescapement pawl 126. The upward motion of spring finger 128 into notch129 does not lift escapement finger 126- far enough to release the traybut on the downward motion the spring finger catches in notch 129 and isrotated against the tension of spring 131 thus effectively increasingthe arc of travel of escapement finger 126 enough to release the edge oftray 19. The downward motion of carriage 120 then carries the lowermostof the trays 19 into alignment with tracks 22 and 23 so that the nextsuccessive pin40 carried by chain 41 engages it to move it along thetracks. The remaining trays are held in position on the ends ofescapement fingers 124, 126. Figure 6 illustrates in detail how thespring biased finger 128, as it rotates in a clockwise direction due toits engagement with notch 129, causes the'escapement finger 126 to move'out far enough to clear the rim of the one of trays 19 which is to bere- While we have shown and particularly described an embodiment of thepresent invention, it should be distinctly understood that our inventionis not limited thereto but that modification within the scope of theinvention may be made. a

This application is a continuation of our application filed November 25,1949, bearing Serial No. 129,414, which has become abandoned.

What is claimed is:

1. An article handling device including a chutealong which said articlespass, a stop for said articles in said chute and a pickup head withmeans to reciprocate the same from a position over said chute adjacentsaid stop, where one of said articles may be picked up, to a dischargeposition where said article is discharged and means for intermittentlymoving said stop and said pick.

up head along said chute whereby each article is discharged in adifferent position along said chute.

2. Anarticle handling device including a chute along which said articlespass, a stop for said article in said chute and a pickup head with meansto reciprocate the ,same from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop,

where one of said articles may be picked up, to a discharge positionover a receiving tray where said article is dropped into said tray andmeans for intermittently moving said stop and said pickup head alongsaid chute whereby each article is discharged in a different positionalong said chute.

3. An article handling device including a chute along which saidarticles pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head having means forselectively picking up and releasing said articles, means forreciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop, Where one of said articles may be picked up, to a dischargeposition over a receiving tray where said article is dropped into saidtray, said tray having a number of rows of pockets, means for movingsaid stop and head in a path along said chute so that a predeterminednumber of articles is dropped in succession into each pocket of a row,and means for intermittently moving said tray along a line transverse tosaid chute as said pickup head reaches each end of said path whereby therows of pockets in said tray are filled in sequence.

4. An article handling device including a chute along which saidarticles pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head having means forselectively picking up and releasing said articles, means forreciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop, where one of said articles may be picked up, to a dischargeposition where said article is dropped, a pair of rails forming a tracklying under said chute and along a line transverse to said chute, astack of article receiving trays at one end of said track, means formoving a tray from said stack and intermittently along said track, saidtrays each containing a number of rows of article receiving pockets, thetrays being intermittently moved a distance equal to the spacing betweensaid rows of pockets, an escapement mechanism for moving said pickuphead and said stop in a path along the chute whereby said pickup headreaches a discharge position over each of the pockets in a row insuccession.

5. An article handling device including a chute along which saidarticles pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head having means forselectively picking up and releasing said articles, means forreciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop, where one of said articles may be picked up, to a dischargeposition where said article is dropped, a pair of rails forming a tracklying under said chute and along a line transverse to said chute, astack of article receiving trays at one end of said track, means formoving a tray from said stack and intermittently along said track, saidtrays each containing a number of rows of article receiving pockets, thetrays being intermittently moved a distance equal to the spacing betweensaid rows of pockets, an escapernent mechanism for moving said pickuphead and said stop in a path along the chute whereby said pickup headreaches a discharge position over each of the pockets in a row insuccession, and means responsive to the arrival of said pickup head andat each end of a row for actuating the intermittent movement of saidtrays along said track.

6. An article handling device including a chute along which saidarticles pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head having means forselectively picking up and releasing said articles, means forreciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop, where one of said articles may be picked up, to a dischargeposition where said article is dropped, a pair of rails forming a tracklying under said chute and along a line transverse to said chute, astack of article receiving trays at one end of said track, means formoving a tray from said stack and intermittently along said track, saidtrays each containing a number of rows of article receiving pockets, thetrays being intermittently moved a distance equal to the spacing betweensaid rows of pockets, an escapement mechanism for moving said pickuphead and said stop in a path along the chute whereby said pickup headreaches a discharge position over each of the pockets in a row insuccession, and means responsive to the arrival of said pickup head ateach end of a row for actuating the intermittent movement of said traysalong said track and a tray stacking device at the other end of saidtrack for placing filled trays in a stack one beneath the other.

7. In combination with a grid winding machine wherein separate completegrids are discharged one at a time from said machine, a chute forreceiving said grids, a movable stop in said chute, means for movingsaid grids one at a time along said chute to said stop, a grid receivingtray under said chute and a pickup head having a suction nozzle forindividually picking up said grids one at a time from said chute andtransferring them to said tray, means for shifting the pickup head foreffecting said transfer, said tray having a number of rows of individualgrid receiving pockets therein and an intermittent escapement for movingsaid pickup head and stop whereby said grids are distributed in saidpockets.

8. In combination with a grid winding machine wherein separate completegrids are discharged one at a time from said machine, a chute forreceiving said grids, a movable stop in said chute, means for movingsaid grids one at a time along said chute to said stop, a grid receivingtray under said chute and a pickup head having a suction nozzle forindividually picking up said grids one at a time from said chute andtransferring them to said tray, means for shifting the pickup head foreffecting said transfer, said tray having a number of rows of individualgrid receiving pockets therein and an intermittent escapement for movingsaid pickup head and stop along said chute whereby said grids aredistributed in said pockets and a feed for moving said trayintermitten'ny under said chute so that each row of pockets is filled insequence.

9. In combination with a grid winding machine wherein separate completegrids are discharged one at a time from said machine, a chute forreceiving said grids, a movable stop in said chute, means for movingsaid grids one at a time along said chute to said stop, and a pickuphead movable with said stop and having a suction nozzle thereon forpicking up said grids individually, means for reciprocating said headfrom a position over said chute adjacent said stop to a dischargeposition where said grids are released.

10. In combination with a grid Winding machine wherein separate completegrids are discharged one at a time from said machine, a chute forreceiving said grids, a movable stop in said chute, means for movingsaid grids one at a time along said chute to said step, and a pickuphead having a suction nozzle thereon for picking up said gridsindividually, means for reciprocating said head from a position oversaid chute adjacent said stop to a discharge position Where said gridsare released, and an intermittent escapement for moving said pickup headand stop along the chute whereby said grids are distributed along theline of said chute,

11. in combination with a grid winding machine wherein separate completegrids are discharged one at a time from said machine, a chute alongwhich said grids pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head, means forreciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop where one of said grids may be picked up to a discharge positionwhere said grid is dropped, means on said head for selectively pickingup and releasing said grids, a pair or" rails forming a track lyingunder said chute and along a line transverse to said chute, a stack ofgrid receiving trays at one end of said track, means for moving a trayfrom said stack and intermittently along said track, said trays eachcontaining a number of rows of grid receiving pockets, the trays beingintermittently moved a distance equal to the spacing between said rowsof pockets, an escapemeut mechanism for moving said pickup head and saidstop in a path along the chute whereby said pickup head reaches adischarge position over each of thepockets in a row in succession, meansresponsive to the arrival of said pickup head at each end rocating saidhead from a position oversaid chute adjacent said stop where one ofsaidgrids may be picked up to a discharge position wheresaid grid isdropped, means on said head for selectively picking up and releasingsaid grids, a pair of rails forming a track lying under winding machinewheresaid chute and along a line transverse to said chute, i

means for moving a receiving tray intermittently along said track, saidtrays each containing a number of rows of grid receiving pockets,anescapement mechanism for moving said pickup head and said stop inaipath along the chute whereby said pickuphead reaches a dischargeposition over each of the pockets in a row in succession, and meansresponsive to the arrival of said pickup head and at each end of a rowfor actuating the intermittent movement of said trays along said track.

13. In combination with a grid winding machine Wherein separate completegrids are discharged one at a time from said machine, a chute alongwhich said grids pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head, means forreciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop, where one of said grids may be picked up, to a discharge positionover a receiving tray Where said grid is dropped into said tray, meanson said head for selectively picking up and releasing said grids, saidtray having a number of rows of pockets, means for moving said step andhead in a path along said chute so that a pre-determined number of gridsis dropped in succession into each pocket of a row, and means forintermittently moving said tray along a line transverse to said chute assaid pickup head reaches each end of said path whereby the rows ofpockets in said tray are filled in sequence.

14. In combination with a grid winding machine wherein separate completegrids are discharged one at a time from said machine, a chute alongwhich said grids pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head, means forre-. ciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop, where one of said grids may be picked up to a discharge positionwhere said grid is dropped, means on said head for selectively pickingup and reunder said chute and along a line transverse to said chute, astack of grid receiving trays at one end of said track, means for movingatray from said stack and intermittently along said track, said trayseach containing a number of rows of grid receiving pockets,- the traysbeing intermittently moved a distance equalto the spacing between saidrows of pockets, an escapement mechanism for moving said pickup head andsaid stop in. a path along the chute whereby said pickup head reaches adischarge position over each of the pockets in a row in succession. p

.15. An article handling device including a'chute along which saidarticles pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head, meansforreciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop, where one of said articles maybe picked up, to a dischargeposition Where said article is dropped, means on said head forselectively picking up and releasing said article, a pair of railsforming a track lying under said chute and along a line transverse tosaid chute, a stack of article receiving trays at one end of said track,means for moving atray from said stack and intermittently along saidtrack, said trays eachcontaining a number of rows of article receivingpockets, the trays being intermittently moved a distance equal to thespacing between said rows .of'pockets, an

escapement mechanism for moving saidpickup head and of rows of gridreceiving pockets, the trays being interpockets in a row in succession,said escapement mechanism including a carriage for said pickup headmovable on a track along said chute, a reversible motor for selectivelyurging said carriage in either direction along said track, means forstopping said carriage at each position where said pickup headdischarges over a pocket, means responsive to the reciprocation of saidhead for regularly releasing said stopping means.

16. in combination with a grid winding machine wherein separate gridsare discharged one at a time from said machine, a chute along which saidgrids pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head, means forreciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop, where one of said grids may be picked up to a discharge positionwhere said grid is dropped, means on said head for selectively pickingup and releasing said grid, a pair of rails forming a track lying undersaid chute and along a line transverse to said chute, a stack of gridreceiving trays at one end of said track, means for moving a tray fromsaid stack and intermittently'along said track, said trays eachcontaining a number mittently moved a distance equal to the spacingbetween said rows of pockets, an escapement mechanism for moving saidpickup head and said stop in a path along the chute whereby said pickuphead reaches a discharge position over each of the pockets in a row insuccession, said escapement mechanism including a carriage for saidpickup head movable on a track along said chute, a reversible motor forselectively urging said carriage in either direction along said track,means for stopping said carriage at each position where said pickup headdischarges over a pocket, means responsive to the reciprocation of saidhead for regularly releasing said stopping means.

17. An article handling device including a chute along 7 which saidarticles pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head, means forreciprocating said head from a position over said chute'adjacent saidstop, Where one of said articles may be picked up, to a dischargeposition where at one end of said track, means for moving a tray fromleasing said grids, a pair of rails forming a track lying said stack andintermittently along said track, said .trays each containing a number ofrows of article receiv-;

ing pock ts, the trays being intermittently moved a distance equal tothe spacing between said rows of pockets, an escapement mechanism formoving said pickup head and said stop in a path along thechute wherebysaid pick "up head reaches a discharge position over each of the pocketsin a row in succession, said escapement mechanisrn including a carriagefor said pickup head movable on a track along said chute, areversiblemotor for se- 'lectively urging said carriage in either direction alongsaid from said machine, a chute along which said grids pass,

a stop in said chute and a pickup head, means for reciprocating saidhead from a position over said chute adjacent said stop,,where one ofsaid grids may be picked up to a discharge position where said grid isdropped,'means on said head for selectively picking up andreleasing saidgrids, apair of rails forming a track lying under said chute and along aline transverse to said chute, a stack of grid receiving trays at oneend of said track, means for moving a tray from said stack andintermittently along said track, said trays each containing a number ofrows of grid receiving pockets, the trays being intermittently moved adistance equal to the spacing between said rows of pockets, anescapement mechanism for moving said pickup head and said stop in a pathalong the chute whereby said pickup head reaches a discharge positionover each of the pockets in a row in succession, said escapementmechanism including a carriage for said pickup head movable on a trackalong said chute, a reversible motor for selectively urging saidcarriage in either direction along said track, means for stopping saidcarriage at each position where said pickup head discharges over apocket, means responsive to the reciprocation or" said head forregularly releasing said stopping means, and means responsive to thearrival of said carriage at either end of said track for reversing saidmotor.

19. An article handling device including a chute along which saidarticles pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head, means forreciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop, where one of said articles may be picked up, to a dischargeposition where said article is dropped, means on said head forselectively picking up and releasing said article, a pair of railsforming a track lying under said chute and along a line transverse tosaid chute, a stack of article receiving trays at one end of said track,means for moving a tray from said stack and intermittently along saidtrack, said trays each containing a number of rows of article receivingpockets, the trays being intermittently moved a distance equal to thespacing between said rows of pockets, an escapement mechanism for movingsaid pickup head and said stop in a path along the chute whereby saidpickup head reaches a discharge position over each of the pockets in arow in succession, said escapement mechanism including a carriage forsaid pickup head movable on a track along said chute, a reversible motorfor selectively urging said carriage in either direction along saidtrack, means for stopping said carriage at each position where saidpickup head discharges over a pocket, means responsive to thereciprocation of said head for regularly releasing said stopping means,and means responsive to the arrival of said carriage at either end ofsaid track for reversing said motor, said last mentioned means alsoactuating the tray moving means.

20. In combination with a grid winding machine wherein separate completegrids are discharged one at a time from said machine, a chute alongwhich said grids pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head, means forreciprocating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop, where one of said grids may be picked up to a discharge positionwhere said grid is dropped, means on said head for selectively pickingup and releasing said grids, a pair of rails forming a track lying undersaid chute and along a line transverse to said chute, a stack of gridreceiving trays at one end of said track, means for moving a tray fromsaid stack and intermittently along said track, said trays eachcontaining a number of rows of grid receivin g pockets, the trays beingintermittently moved a distance equal to the spacing between said rowsof pockets, an escapement mechanism for moving said pickup head and saidstop in a path along the chute whereby said pickup head reaches adischarge position over each of the pockets in a row in succession, saidescapement mechanism including a carriage for said pickup head movableon a track along said chute, a reversible motor for selectively urgingsaid carriage in either direction along said track, means for stoppingsaid carriage at each position where said pickup head discharges over apocket, means responsive to the reciprocation of said head for regularlyreleas ing said stopping means, and means responsive to the arrival ofsaid carriage at either end of said track for reversing said motor, saidlast mentioned means also actuating the tray moving means.

21. A transfer mechanism including a pickup head having a suctionnozzle, a carriage and a pair of parallel links pivoted to said head andto said carriage, a motor for oscillating one of said links whereby saidhead is oscillated from one position to another, one of said positionsbeing adjacent a stop carried by said carriage and in a chute alongwhich said carriage runs and the other being outside of said chute, areversible motor urging said carriage along said track in one directionor the other, means for intermittently blocking the motion of saidcarriage and means responsive to a predetermined number of oscillationsof said head for momentarily releasing said blocking means whereby saidcarriage is indexed along said track.

22. A transfer mechanism including a pickup head having a suctionnozzle, a carriage and a pair of parallel links pivoted to said head andto said carriage, a motor for oscillating one of said links whereby saidhead is oscillated from one position to another, one of said positionsbeing adjacent a stop carried by said carriage and in a chute alongwhich said carriage runs and the other being outside of said chute, areversible motor urging said carriage along said track in one directionor the other, means for intermittently blocking the motion of saidcarriage and means responsive to a predetermined number of oscillationsof said head for momentarily releasing said blocking means whereby saidcarriage is indexed along said track, and means responsive to thearrival of said carriage at each end of said track for reversing saidreversible motor.

23. In combination with a grid winding machine wherein separate completegrids are discharged one at a time from said machine, a chute alongwhich said grids pass, a stop in said chute and a pickup head, means forreciproeating said head from a position over said chute adjacent saidstop where one of said grids may be picked up to a discharge positionwhere said grid is dropped, means on said head for selectively pickingup and releasing said grids, a pair of rails forming a track lying undersaid chute and along a line transverse to said chute, means for moving areceiving tray intermittently along said track, said trays eachcontaining a number of rows of grid receiving pockets, an escapementmechanism for moving said pickup head and said stop in a path along thechute whereby said pickup head reaches a discharge position over each ofthe pockets in a row in succession, the means for moving said traysincluding a chain running under said track having spaced tray engagingpins along it, a ratchet wheel coupled to a sprocket engaging saidchain, a pawl arranged to oscillate about the axis of said wheel, andmeans for causing said pawl to perform one oscillation in response tothe arrival of said pickup head at each end of a row, whereby said traysare indexed along said track.

24. An article handling device including a conveyor having a path alongwhich said articles move, an article receiving device having articlereceiving areas arranged longitudinally and transversely of said device,an article transfer element of a size and positioned to pick up only onearticle at a time from said path and convey it to an area on thereceiving device, means connected to said element for energizing anddeenergizing the same, said deenergization means operating to release anarticle from the element at each area, and means to effect relativeshifting of the article transfer element and the article rcceivingdevice longitudinally and transversely of the transfer element so thatall article receiving areas of the receiving device will be reached bythe article transfer element.

25. An article handling device including a conveyor having a path alongwhich said articles move, an article receiving device having articlereceiving areas arranged longitudinally and transversely of said device,an article transfer element including an article engaging suction nozzleof a size and positioned to pick up only one article at a time from saidpath and convey it to an area on the receiving device, means, forming apermanent part of the element, to release an article from the element bycutting off the suction at each area, and means to etfect relativeshifting of the article transfer element and the article receivingdevice longitudinally and transversely of the transfer element so thatall article receiving areas of the receiving device will be reached bythe article transfer element.

26. In an article handling device, means for conveying articles along adefinite path, means for moving a receiver having rows of compartmentsalong a definite path, a transfer element having a pick-up portion of asize to pick up only one article at a time from said first path, saidpick-up portion being reciprocative between the two paths, meansconnected to said pick-up portion to render said pick-up portioneffective when it is over the first path to pick up an article andineffective when the same is over the second path in order that thepick-up portion may release said article, means to effect motion of thereceiver and of the pick-up portion to cause every compartment in a rowof the receiver to be positioned, one by one, under said pick-upportion, and means to shift the receiver preparatory to filling anotherrow of said receiver.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,280,854 Rooney Apr. 28, 1942

